"Life Goes On"

From Semana, Aug. 14-21 edition #1.267
translated by Gilberto Villaseñor

Sixty-four Antioqueñan women recently graduated as “huggers” from a course in supporting victims of the conflict.

Fidelina Ocampo was convinced that her husband listened to her talk everyday while she prepared lunch in her house in Alejandría, Antioquia. She even refused to let anyone sit on her kitchen stool saying, “don’t you see that my husband is there.” But her husband wasn’t listening, nor sat in the kitchen. He had been hacked to pieces by paramilitaries more than a year ago, and authorities have only recovered a black boot and a piece of his skin.

Fidelina’s trauma lasted about 5 months, when Enid González, a leader of her municipality and victim of the conflict, began to “hug” her. In other words, Enid listened to her and counseled her on subjects such as grief, self-care, and domestic violence, and she literally gave her hugs. “Even though it sounds silly, our principal objective is to hug people so they don’t feel alone,” commented Teresa Franco, one of the 64 women who recently graduated from the course as a “promoter of life and mental health” granted by the Javeriana University of Bogotá, the group Conciudadanía, and the Association of Women of Eastern Antioquia (Amor).

There were 19 “hugs” – that is, course meetings - in total so that 1,000 female victims of the armed conflict could succeed in recuperating during the two years of the program. Every month psychologists and social workers counseled the leaders so that they could accompany the victims of their municipalities in the process of grief and suffering. Guarne, El Peñol, Guatapé, Nariño, Argelia, Rionegro, La Ceja, La Unión, Marinilla y Alejandría benefited from this pilot project that, thanks to its good results, will launch a second round of the program next week in the municipalities of south western Antioquia. This new group will be novel in two ways: 10 male victims of the conflict will participate, along with some leaders from Cartagena, Tierralta (Córdoba), and San Pablo (Bolívar), who are interested in replicating this experience in their departments.

When the promoters sit down and share the experiences they had with each one of their “hugged” women, you hear stories of pain and hard times of the conflict that has plagued this region of the department for years. Some accept that the fear and distrust has been so strong in their municipalities that many people have not been able to recover.

This is the case for one family in Guarne, all of whom suffer psychological traumas. The mother, for example, does not talk, and despite the support that a promoter has given her for two years, she has still not uttered one word. The father of this same family, after having been considered one of the most well known leaders of his settlement, is now a self-absorbed and passive man. “We believe that what happened in that settlement had to have been quite grave for that family to be left in such conditions”, says Estella Gómez, one of the promoters.

The majority of these women, however, prefer to remember the positive histories, those that speak of homes that have recovered and a less bitter quality of life. Their greatest achievement, without a doubt, has been to decrease suffering and recover the trust of 1,000 victims through the hugs. Many, for example, who previously did not leave their houses or speak with their neighbors, now leave their settlements, sharing with others; even after Sunday mass, they will stay in their town plazas spending time with their new friends.

“The objective is to recuperate the dignity of the victims”, said Juan David Villa, a consultant from the Society of Jesus. And since today there aren’t only victims in Eastern Antioquia, the idea is to spread this initiative to each region touched by the war. As the 64 promoters say, the idea is to hug even the guerrillas and the paramilitaries.